Moscow Court Rejects Navalny's Lawsuit Against Putin

A court in Moscow has rejected opposition politician Aleksei Navalny’s lawsuit against President Vladimir Putin and his administration.

A lawyer for Navalny's Anticorruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, wrote on Facebook that the Tver District Court's November 8 decision would be appealed.

Navalny said on November 1 that he was launching legal action against Putin and his administration, accusing the Kremlin of setting up coordinated obstacles to his campaign for Russia's March 2018 presidential election.

Navalny is campaigning in defiance of officials who have said he is not eligible to run because of a felony embezzlement conviction that he says was politically motivated.

Putin, who has held power as president or prime minister for 18 years, has not announced his candidacy but is widely expected to seek a fourth Kremlin term.

His control over the levers of power would make his reelection a foregone conclusion.

Navalny, who has riled the Kremlin with reports alleging corruption in Putin's government, received 27 percent of the vote in a Moscow mayoral election in 2013.

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